Voice Over WLANS: The Complete Guide (Communications Engineering) [Paperback]

Michael F. Finneran (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 075068299X | ISBN-13: 978-0750682992 | Publication Date: December 10, 2007 | Edition: 1

Wireless local area networks (WLANs) have traditionally been used to transport only data, but are now being used to carry voice traffic as well as provided new combined voice and data services. Voice over WLANs also offers more flexibility than wired networks (changes to a WLAN don't require changes to installed wiring) and greater capacity than wired networks. This book provides a solid overview of voice over WLANs/VoIP (voice over internet protocol) technology, including voice coding, packet loss, delay and "jitter," and "echo" control. It shows how to combine both WLAN and VoIP technology to create effective voice over WLAN systems.

* Gives complete details on integrating voice and data services on WLANs, including wide area networks
* Explores quality of service (QoS) and security issues
* Step-by-step descriptions of how to plan and implement voice over WLAN networks

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Newnes; 1 edition (December 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075068299X
• ISBN-13: 978-0750682992
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,588,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Finneran is an independent consultant specializing in wireless and mobility with over 30-years experience in the networking field. His firm, dBrn Associates (Hewlett Neck, NY), provides technology assessment, wireless cost control, contract negotiations, project management, and training. While he authored Voice Over Wireless LANs- The Complete Guide (Elsevier, 2008), his expertise spans all wireless technologies including cellular, 3G/4G, WiMAX, and fixed mobile convergence. He has also published numerous research reports, white papers, and writes regularly on wireless and mobility for NoJitter.com and UCStrategies.com.

A lively and informative speaker, Mr. Finneran makes frequent appearances at industry trade shows and conferences including InterOp, Mobile Business Expo, Mobile Explosion, and VoiceCon. He now chairs the wireless and mobility track at VoiceCon. In the consulting area, he has provided assistance on network design, market assessment, and strategic planning to wireline and wireless carriers, equipment vendors, end users, investment firms, and a number of government agencies. As an educator, he has conducted over 2500 training seminars on networking topics and has taught in the Graduate Telecommunications program at Pace University, and the Center for the Study of Data Processing at Washington University. His courses are now offered through Telecom + UC Training.

A member of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants, Mr. Finneran holds a Bachelor degree from Manhattan College and a Masters Degree from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Visit us at: www.dbrnassociates.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Essential, October 6, 2008

By 

Ray Horak (Mt. Vernon, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voice Over WLANS: The Complete Guide (Communications Engineering) (Paperback)

The subject of Voice over WLAN (VoWLAN) is a tough one to get your mind around as it involves the convergence of two evolving technologies, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). VoIP is rapidly replacing circuit-switched voice in the public switched telephone network (PSTN), where most of the kinks have been worked out. VoIP also is making inroads into the premises. While there remain considerable kinks in this domain, LAN-based IPBXs now are gaining serious ground against conventional PBXs, hybrids and key systems, many of which are past retirement age. WLANs have become almost ubiquitous and 802.11n promises much increased bandwidth and range due in considerable measure to MIMO antenna technology. Putting it all together involves converting the most demanding stream-oriented application of all (i.e., analog voice) to a digital data format, compressing it, packetizing the resulting data stream using a connectionless network protocol (IP), switching it through an Ethernet LAN that was never intended for such nonsense and adding the uncertainty of wireless (radio) transmission links just to make it a little more challenging. This is not an endeavor for the uneducated or faint of heart, which is where Michael Finneran and this book come in.

Voice over WLANs: The Complete Guide is an apt title, for the book is a thorough treatment of the subject that will guide just about anyone through the background, underlying technologies, planning processes and managerial issues associated with VoWLANs. Finneran begins with an insightful overview on the convergence of WLANs and VoIP. He then patiently and thoroughly builds the necessary technical foundation in radio transmission, WLAN components, media access control protocols, and privacy and security issues. His explanation of the IP protocol suite and its application in voice routing and QoS management is at just the right level. Drilling deeper into the subject, he guides the reader through network design, traffic engineering, VoWLAN configuration, fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), and network management, all of which is pretty technical fare, but Finneran presents it in such a way that it goes down easily.

Finneran has a well deserved reputation as a master communicator, both in person and in print. He avoids the temptation to impress us with his considerable intellect, preferring to exercise his unique ability to translate highly technical subject matter into plain-English, absolutely understandable and even friendly terms. Those of us who know Mike Finneran or are familiar with his work have come to expect nothing but the best from him. This book does not disappoint. Voice over WLANs: The Compete Guide is absolutely essential for anyone with a need to know about VoWLANs at a practical level.